The Grand Theatre
by hypersonicspeed98
Summary: Entire worlds are ripped asunder as the god of games attempts to cure his boredom. Taking characters from every game universe imaginable and throwing them all into a game ripped straight from the pages of Sword Art Online, you will see many familiar faces as they battle for their freedom in this unfamiliar world.
1. Act I, Scene i

**A/N: I was trying to come up with an idea for a Devil May Cry fanfiction, when, while watching Sword Art Online with a friend of mine, the idea for this struck me. A couple of things first, there are no SAO characters, just the game system and UI, and I want any and all feedback that I can get to see this story be the best that it can be. I don't know if there's anything else I can say, so, enjoy!**

* * *

Macuilxochitl lounged against the back of the throne and yawned. He would act soon. All the details were put in place, and his grand dance of entertainment would soon begin. A wicked smile graced his divine features as he rose from his regal seating. This would be fun.

The sound of seagulls crying as they circled overhead pulled Sora from his into consciousness. Blinking the sleep from his eyes, the young hero sat up on the beach and yawned. What time is it? He thought, as he peered at the sun, trying to glean understanding from the celestial object. Sora's waking brain worked slowly to register the fact that the sun was slowly sinking past the horizon. He smiled lazily as he finally processed the fact that it was sunset. Supper would be soon, and Riku was cooking tonight. Which is funny, because Riku never cooks. Only on special occasions, like birthdays. Birthday…...birthday…..oh, no. His smile turned into a look of worry as he remembered that today was Kairi's birthday, and the party was starting soon. If he was late, Kairi was going to kill him. He started sprinting toward the treehouse that they were holding the party in, when his world shattered.

His vision went dark, his ears roared, he felt himself hit the sandy beach, every grain pressing against his body as if to assure him that he was still real, before the pain came. It was excruciating, mind-consuming, pain. A shrill voice broke through the storm in his ears, and it screamed one word over and over again. "SORA! SORA! SORAAA!" He answered it before his brain succumbed to the pain. "Kairi….."

He awoke to see…..nothing. There was nothing. Not even blackness. No, blackness would be attributing too much to this, this…..void. There was nothing to see, hear, smell, or touch, just him and his thoughts. What was this place? Was this the doing of the heartless? Were they the ones who did this to him? Drag him from his islands and bring him…..wherever this was? Wait, what about Kairi? And Riku? Donald, Goofy, King Mickey. Were they okay? Suddenly, Sora's thoughts were interrupted by a suffocating presence.

"No, small one, it is not your weak adversaries, the heartless as you call them, that have done this to you. It was me, your divine superior." A deep voice boomed in the void.

"As for your friends, they are in the same situation as you are. You're all safe right now, but I won't be able to make many promises for the future."

What did he mean the future? What was he going to do? Who was this person? What was going on? "Hahahaha, yes, little ant, your confusion amuses me. You will get the answers to some of your questions very soon, but the others, well, we'll see if you're worthy to know their answers."

"Now, I have others to attend to. Go, weak one, to the regal stage. Your god commands it." As the mysterious presence spoke these words, Sora felt a tugging on his entire being. Dragging him deeper and deeper into the void, until, suddenly, a bright light appeared in front of him, blinding and consuming him.

* * *

Arturia Pendragon sighed, looking at the sun setting over the distant hills. She felt naked, stripped of her battle armor and Excalibur. Left with only leather garments and a sword of poor quality fit for a lowly infantryman. Normally, her pride as the king of Britain would not let her stand for this, but she had no choice but to accept this sad fate for now. A smirk crossed her fair features. That doesn't mean she couldn't exact her revenge later, though. Setting off to look for her master, Saber clenched her fists in anticipation.

* * *

The woman formerly known as Claire Farron walked through the peaceful plains, idly stroking the rusty blade that had replaced her Flamberge. What was she going to do? The presence had hinted that Serah and Hope would be wherever "here" was, but she couldn't find them. She had been searching all day, and she couldn't find another living thing, much less those two. If any harm came to them, she would make whoever did this to them pay, divinity be damned.

* * *

Zack Fair laid down on a grassy plateau and stared at the starry sky. The day had passed by slowly. He hadn't been able to make any sense of his situation. The hilly terrain never seemed to end, and the weather had been perfect all day. He couldn't make sense of where he was, or what he was supposed to do. He had decided that the best course of action would be to go looking for Aerith, but that hadn't turned up any results. He hoped she was okay. If she got hurt, the person who put them here wouldn't be around to regret it for long.

* * *

Dante Sparda groaned as he woke up. Ugh, his head hurt. What had that weirdo been talking about? Something about a play? God? He didn't know. He just knew that if he ever found that guy, he'd kill him for taking Dante away from his pizza. Before he could do that, though, he had to figure out where he was. The sun was shining, birds were chirping, the grass on the hills was swaying in the light breeze. Huh, that's funny, he could actually feel the breeze on his arms. Normally, his coat would….."WHERE THE HELL IS MY COAT!" Oh, this asshole was SO dying now.

* * *

Macuilxochitl laughed as he surveyed his handiwork. Oh, this would be such a grand play…

* * *

**A/N: So, there's the first chapter. If you don't know any of these characters, don't worry, they'll get elaborated upon next chapter, or you could just use the magic of the internet to look them up yourselves. Alright, review, critique, I need all of the feedback. See y'all next time!**


	2. Act I, Scene ii

**A/N: So, I'm gonna try and put the "exposition chapters", as I like to call them, up in quick succession, and then I'm gonna start having one or two chapters uploaded a week once we get into the thick of things.**

* * *

As he observed his play-things wander around confusedly, Macuilxochitl decided that it was time to add a bit more drama into this play.

* * *

As Zack was wandering around this seemingly endless expanse of grassy hills and plains for the second day in a row, he began to inspect the weapon that he had been left with. A far cry from his buster sword, only slightly longer than a dirk, and covered with splotches of rust, it barely qualified as a useable blade. Thinking that he would be in trouble if anything more powerful than a stick of butter attacked him, Zack continued trudging on.

The mysterious presence had hinted that his loved ones would be here as well, so he had to find Aerith and make sure that she was safe. After that, well, he didn't know what he would do after that. He guessed he would try to find a way to get out of wherever here was, and get back home, preferably with his buster sword in tow. But, he didn't even know if there was a way out of here. Heck, he didn't even know if there was a way out of here. Abandoning these fruitless thoughts, Zack was about to take a break and sit down when a familiar, disembodied voice called out.

"Greetings, insects, I trust you are all having fun." This guy, thought Zack as he clenched his jaw and gripped the hilt of his sword. What did he want?

* * *

"Oh yeah, I'm doing just fucking dandy you disembodied piece of-" But, Dante's quip was cut off by the booming voice.

"I'm sure you are all wondering why you can't find the friends and loved ones I promised would be there with you."

"No, actually, I'm more worried about my goddamn coat and weapons you son of a-" Again, the devil hunter's words were interrupted.

"And I am also sure that some of you are also wondering where the equipment that you usually carry has gone."

"Damn skippy, you interrupting bastard! I swear, if I ever find you, I'm going to rip your throat out, so you'll never be able to interrupt anyone ever again!"

"Well, wonder no longer, for you shall get your answers, peons."

* * *

How dare he refer to her, the crown king of Britain, as "insect", or "peon"? He would pay for these insults in due time, but first Arturia would have to listen to what he had to say.

"The reason that you have not been able to find your loved ones, or anyone else for that matter, is that you are not quite done with your journey. You are all currently in a waiting room of sorts, a pocket dimension while I prepare the stage for the production that you will all be participating in. Don't worry, once I am done explaining, I will transport you to your final destination. But first, your situation. You are all my underlings. I am your god, and could snuff your pitiful lives out without so much as a whim. Never forget that in the times to come." This angered Saber. How dare he act as if he were superior to her. Her god? She knew only one god, and he did not do things such as this to his children.

* * *

So, he was just playing with her right now? Making her wait to see Serah? Lightning clenched her fists in rage at the audacity of the faceless man.

"Soon, you will all be transported into a game of my own design. Once there, you will fight your way through one hundred floors filled with dangers and tests of strength. Once you clear all of the floors, you will be granted your freedom, but until then, you shall be trapped in this world. You have been stripped of your equipment so as to make this a true challenge, and to make it more entertaining for me. You will find that this game will be filled with an innumerable amount of people, so finding your loved ones will be a difficult task. For some of you it may even prove impossible, but rest assured they are in there with you. At least for a time. And this brings me to my final point. I will not protect you in this game. If you decide to get yourself written out of this grand play, then there will be no heroic return for you. You shall cease to exist in this world and any other."

* * *

Harsh terms, thought Sora. If he couldn't find Kairi in this game, he hoped she would be okay. Maybe Riku would find her. He would protect her. No, he couldn't think like that. He would find them both, and they would fight their way out of here. Despite only having the Kingdom Key, he would fight through all 100 hundred floors.

"You will receive further instruction in the game. Now, go my players, and put on a show for your god." As the disembodied voice finished his command, Sora felt a familiar falling feeling come over him as his sight faded to black.

* * *

**A/N: I apologize for the shortness of the chapters. I just feel like having shorter chapters allows me, the author to post quicker, and leaves you, the reader, with more of a feeling of a suspense. But, I may be wrong, so, if you wish to see longer chapters, or have anything else to critique, please leave a review.**


	3. Act I, Scene iii

**A/N: I would apologize for being so late to upload, but this seems like it's past the point of apologies. So... fuck it. Here goes.**

* * *

"Ah, God. My head. What the fuck!" But the devil hunter soon realized that his splitting headache was the least of his problems. His real problem was the sea of people that spread out across the grassy plains and green hills as far as the eye could see. No words would come to mind as he tried to comprehend exactly what he was seeing, only half-formed thoughts that ended with wheezing breaths of incredulity.

* * *

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON! WHAT. THE. ACTUAL. HELL. IS. GOING. ON!" He knew that the disembodied voice had been addressing multiple people, but this, this was just plain ridiculousness. Everybody else was reacting just as the son of Sparda had. He could see the shock plastered all over the faces of the people directly adjacent to him. Slowly, he watched those expressions turn from ones of surprise to ones of horror. Dante's trained hand gripped the hilt of his rusted sword in fear of the resulting panick that would overcome the people around him. But, thankfully, before all hell could break loose, the attention of the masses was caught by a familiar voice.

"Yes, yes. I did expect that lesser minds such as yours would not be able to comprehend the majesty of what I have done, but you soon shall. See, I have put you all in a reality of my own design, and it works a little differently from the realities that you are used to. Here, your enemies are laid out for you across one hundred separate floors. Each floor, and consequently the enemies on said floors, will get progressively harder as you climb. Now why, you may wonder, should you bother completing this challenge of mine? Well, if you somehow manage to complete my challenge, you shall earn your freedom from this plane, as well as the freedom of everybody else trapped here with you."

All the blood rushed from the seasoned hunter's face as he recognized the reality of the situation. "He put us in a fucking video game."

* * *

The King of Knights was left in shock. Not because of the fact that she was in an unfamiliar area. Not because she had no idea how she was supposed to find Shirou in this sheer amount of people. Not because the words of their captor made escape seem impossible. No. None of these things. She was shocked because she found that all of these things left her terrified of what came next, and terror was not an emotion that came easily to her. Out of all the challenges she had been through in her life, and her treks as a legendary Heroic Spirit, she had a roiling in her gut that told her this would be the most difficult of all, greater even than her twelve battles of fame. But, the one who orchestrated this madness interrupted her thoughts.

"Now, to get on to how this play of mine will be run. Your strengths and weaknesses will be given numerical values that will increase as you overcome more challenges. Your equipment and weapons will also be assigned such values. To check the values attributed to you and your equipment, all you need do is raise your right hand in front of you and bring it down while consciously thinking about checking these values. This will be your menu. Other details about your adventure shall be collected in this menu, so keep it in mind. Now, I tire of speaking to you peons. I shall leave you with this last kernel of knowledge. I have created towns fully equipped with kitchens, lodgings and all other necessities. Finding them should be your first objective. Now, go, fight for your lives!"

* * *

"Okay then, that's a little weird," Zack said to himself, "he's giving us stats? Well, might as well check 'em out." Feeling like an idiot, Zack put out his hand and brought down with a sweeping motion. To his surprise, a white panel appeared in front of him with writing all over it. "This is all quite interesting, but now I have to go and find one of those towns he was talking about. Maybe I'll find Aerith or Cloud there." So, hefting his pitiful blade over his shoulder, the SOLDIER 1st Class starts off on his journey.

* * *

"Well, he wasn't kidding when he said that these things were fully equipped," the Keyblade wielder observed, "this place has a kitchen, a bedroom, a restroom, and even a patio." Sora hadn't had to walk far to find one of the villages that the disembodied voice had mentioned. Once he had arrived, he found a house that was empty. When he walked in, a panel appeared in front of him with the words, "Would you like to claim this building?", written on it. Below the words, there were two buttons that read "Yes" and "No". Deciding that having a house would be a good idea in this situation, Sora agreed to claim the house for his own. He hoped that he could use it as a home base as he searched for Riku and Kairi. The young hero was about to check the pantry to see if there was any food in the pantry when he heard a crash outside of his house. Startled, he ran to the door to check the cause of the commotion. The source was a young woman with rose-colored hair who was gripping her hand with a pained look on her face.

"And who might you be?"

* * *

"Huh?" Lightning looked up from her stinging hand to see the source of the voice. It was a young man, no, more a kid really, with crazy brown hair and baggy clothing. He seemed worried, but whether he was worried about her, his house, or just the general situation that they were all stuck in, was yet to be judged. "Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to cause such a ruckus. My name is Lightning. Nice to meet you."

"Well, my name is Sora, nice to meet you, Lightning! So, um, are you okay? How did you hurt yourself?"

"I'm okay. Thanks for asking, though. As for how I hurt myself, I tried to open the door to this house, hoping to see what was inside, and it shocked me, then a message popped up saying 'Entrance not permitted by owner of house. Access denied.' Do you know what that's about?"

The kid scratched his head for a few seconds looking confused. Lightning wondered for a moment, how stressful would it be for a kid his age to be thrown into a mess like this? He couldn't be more than sixteen years old, and yet he had been thrown into an unfamiliar land and told that he had to fight for his life. Then again, she was in the same situation. She shuddered at the thought of never being able to get back home. Suddenly, Sora looked up with a cheesy grin and began to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Lightning asked.

"Well, its just that I think I figured out why you got shocked. See, when I walked in here it asked me if I wanted to claim the building, so I think it now recognizes me as its owner, and I guess you'd have to get my permission to be able to enter. I'm really sorry about that. I'm sure you're already freaked out enough without being attacked by houses."

"Yeah, well, apology accepted. Do you know how I could get a house of my own?"

"I guess you'd just have to find an empty one and claim it for your own. Maybe we could try the one next door." The kid hopped out of his doorway onto the street and began to walk to the next house over. His energy seemed out of place, and it made Lightning wonder if it was just a coping mechanism, the result of his youth, or if this kid just wasn't everything he seemed to be. Before she could put any more thought into it, Sora was calling her over.

"Hey, this one isn't taken. You should try it out."

"Oh, okay." Lightning opened the door and stepped through the threshold of the house. Sure enough, she was prompted to claim possession of the house. She accepted and turned to the young boy who was now her neighbor. "Thanks, kid. I appreciate the help, but if, don't mind, I'd like some time to myself."

"Yeah, of course! I should probably go get some rest anyway." With that, Sora turned and walked towards his house. Lightning closed the door and turned to survey her new lodgings. It was fully furnished with basic furniture such as a couch, a coffee table, and a desk. Wandering into the bedroom of the house, Lightning fell face first onto the bed and was consumed with thoughts of her sister until she let exhaustion take over and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

**A/N: So, yeah, now that I'm back at school and my friend is whipping me into shape, I should be putting up chapters more often. I thought I should go ahead and have two of our characters meet up so that we could speed this up a little bit. As always, any and all critiques are welcomed. See y'all next time!**


	4. Act I, Interlude

**A/N: Okay, I've got a few things to say here, so bear with me here. First of all, I meant to put a chart containing the five characters' stats at the end of the last chapter, but I forgot, so here it is now.**

Arturia Pendragon (Saber):

Class: Warrior  
Advanced Class: Blademaster  
Can Wield: Daggers, Single-Handed Swords, Double-Handed Swords

Strength: 12 (+3)  
Vitality: 23 (+3.45)  
Agility: 10 (+2.5)  
Defense: 11 (+2.75)  
Charisma: 9 (+3)  
Intelligence: 8 (+2)  
Wisdom: 10 (+2.5)  
Luck: 5

Abillities:  
Passive:

Victor of the 12: STR, VIT, DEF, and AGI +15%  
Presence of the King: CHR +33%  
Tactical Commander of all Briton: INT and WIS +25%  
Skill of a Blademaster: STR, DEF, and AGI +10% When equipped with a single or double-handed sword.

Claire Farron (Lightning):  
Class: Warrior  
Advanced Class: Vanguard  
Can Wield: Single-Handed Swords, Double-Handed Swords

Strength: 11  
Vitality: 27  
Agility: 10  
Defense: 13  
Charisma: 5 (+.5)  
Intelligence: 9  
Wisdom: 6  
Luck: 5

Abilities:  
Savior of the People: CHR +10%, additionally, DEF +25% When an ally's health drops below 50%  
Aura of the Vanguard: All allies get DEF +33%  
l'Cie Purpose: WIS and INT cannot be lowered  
Gunsword Wielder: STR +20% When equipped with a weapon with the "Gunsword" keyword

Dante Sparda:

Class: Warrior  
Advanced Class: Devil Hunter  
Can Wield: Single-Handed Swords, Double-Handed Swords, Small Firearms, any weapon with the "Dante" or "Sparda Family" keywords.

Strength: 13 (+2.6)  
Vitality: 25 (+2.5)  
Agility: 12 (+2.4)  
Defense: 9 (+.9)  
Charisma: 7  
Intelligence: 6 (+.6)  
Wisdom: 9 (+.9)  
Luck: 7

Abilities:

Demonic Blood: All stats other than CHR and LUK +10%  
Unnatural Skill: STR and AGI +10% When equipped any bladed weapon or firearm.  
I Don't Even Know How I Do It Sometimes: LUK +50% When HP is below 25%  
Devil Hunter's Instinct: AGI, DEF, STR, and INT +20% When fighting an enemy with the Demon, Undead, or Possessed keywords.

Sora:

Class: Warrior  
Advanced Class: Keyblade Wielder  
Can Wield: Any weapon with the "Keyblade" keyword.

Strength: 10 (+2.5)  
Vitality: 21 (+5.25)  
Agility: 15 (+3.75)  
Defense: 10  
Charisma: 9  
Intelligence: 7  
Wisdom: 11  
Luck: 6

Abilities:

Mark of Mastery: STR, AGI, and VIT +25% When equipped with a Keyblade  
Always Keep a Smile: CHR +15%  
Warrior of Light: Stats cannot be modified by Dark Magic

Zack Fair:

Class: Warrior  
Advanced Class: SOLDIER  
Can Wield: Single-Handed Swords, Double-Handed Swords

Strength: 12  
Vitality: 25  
Agility: 17  
Defense: 12  
Charisma: 10  
Intelligence: 9  
Wisdom: 10  
Luck: 5

Abilities:

SOLDIER Enhancements: STR and VIT +5%  
SOLDIER Training: AGI and INT +5%  
Warrior of Honor: Charisma +10%

**I may change these if I feel that one character is too overpowered or underpowered, and I will be adding active abilities and spells next chapter. Okay, next on the list, it has come to my attention that some people don't know who some of these characters are. My answer to this is LOOK THEM UP! You're on the internet already. It's not that hard to type a name in a search bar. Plus, I'm too lazy to spoonfeed it to you. Next is the fact that my description has been some utter shit, so I will try to fix that starting this chapter. If you have any questions about earlier chapters that weren't answered due to lack of description, ask me, because I don't feel like going back and rewriting previous chapters. Now that that's out of the way, let's go!  
**

* * *

The place is the holy temple dedicated to our playwright. Its golden brilliance would repel most human observance, but you, dear reader, have a special pass to observe the golden buttresses swooping like the wings of the divine Quetzalcoatl that their architects worshiped, the perfectly smooth granite floor whose specks of color seemed to transform into depictions of the great deity to whom this temple was dedicated, and finally the inner sanctum of this building's sole inhabitant. Its pure white brilliance can only be compared to that of the clouds, the only opaqueness that dared intrude on this perfection was a polished wooden pedestal on which stood a crystal bowl filled with water that seemed to have images flashing in it. Hold! The temple's master approaches. Walking into the room with a commanding aura that betrayed his godly status, the golden-skinned deity seemingly glided over to the bowl and peered into its shifting contents. Macuilxochitl smirked as he surveyed the work that he had done. He watched as, like ants who had lost their queen, his cast of characters scurried every which way. Some were driven by panic, others by rage, and others simply by confusion, yet, there were a small handful who acted with calm hearts and minds. These were the ones that would make this production that much more entertaining for him. But, he dare not rest on his laurels yet, for there was one more task he had to complete. His divine muscles jumped and danced as he shifted his stance as if to mirror the excitement of the god they belonged to. As if prodded by some unseen command, the images in the water began to bend into a blur, shifting and jumping until they settled onto the one being that could hope to rival our resident god. The sharp, red eyes betrayed an intelligence beyond that of any man, the contours of a face that would make Michelangelo hang up his chisel, and hair more brilliant than the finest of gold fibers. Macuilxochitl closed his eyes and muttered words of power in the ancient language of the Mayan peoples. As soon as the final syllable left his graced lips, the famed King of Heroes appeared in the sanctum sanctorum of his summoner.

Gilgamesh felt his entire existence being split into its most basic of materials and reform. He felt it, yes, but he could not comprehend it. The shock of being subjected to such shaming forms of transportation is not so easily handled, even by a demigod such as he. But, Macuilxochitl did not have the patience to deal with the weakness of lesser beings, no matter how much potential they possessed.

"Gather yourself, worm. You are in the presence of one who is your better. Show due respect!"

Gilgamesh's jerked up to face the source of these insults, seething with rage. Who dared to demand anything from one such as him, much less his respect. But, his fury was short-lived as his wine-colored eyes gazed upon the holy visage that he was faced with, and the most noble of kings felt an emotion that he thought alien to him. Fear.

"What is the meaning of this? I have feared no being in the entirety of my existence, yet you...your very aura has a pressure that even I cannot withstand. It must be you who has orchestrated this madness. What purpose do you have in calling me here?"

"My purpose for you is simple. You shall be my liaison to the lesser beings involved in my grand production. You shall communicate my desires to them and protect my interests in the time to come. Now, come, we shall discuss your first task." With that, Macuilxochitl pivoted and walked out towards the temple hall.

* * *

**A/N: Not much else to say other than please review so that I can make this better as it goes along. 'Till next time!**


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